In the early days of gaming, comedy played a large part in the success of many game franchises. Today it appears that publishers are staying clear of comedy in attempts to wow consumers with bleeding edge graphics and intense action.

In our "discussion" segment we ponder why publishers are choosing not to produce comedy based games, why we like comedy based games, and our belief that comedy based games could actually expand and diversify the overall gaming audience.

During our "Retro Respect" segment, we take a look back at Sierra On-Line, the company famous for producing many memorable graphical adventure games. During the segment, we discuss the history of Sierra, some of the popular series they produced, and how you can play those games today.

In our look at the news we discuss the release of the first PSP mod chip, the GP2X handheld console, a new Indiana Jones-based adventure game, the fact that the DS Lites went on sale early, and that some people are pushing to have video games included as an Olympic sport.

Last edited by raz0red on Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:01 am; edited 1 time in total

Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:29 am

iamsjn

iamsjn
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 185
Location: Phoenix, AZ

W00t!!
Listening now!
Loving the 'Comedy in Video Games' segment! I got one word for ya when it comes to comedy and you touched on it briefly with Zork & Hitchhikers, INFOCOM!! All of those text based adventures had comedy geniously spread through out the games!

Some Comedic games of note were: Leather Goddess Of Phobos, The Lurking Horror & Planetfall!

Another fantastic job guys! Gonna get back to this episode. Right now I'm hearing you pleading to trade your PSP! You guys are too much!!

realy smooth podcast... realy nice keep u the good work guys im not finished listening to it but so far its realy nice

KEEP IT UP!!!!!

_________________OL' DIRTY BASTARD

Mon Jun 05, 2006 5:06 pm

raz0redSite Admin

raz0red
Joined: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 661
Location: Britannia

Thanks for the kind words! I really enjoyed researching Sierra for this podcast. It is always interesting to find out what the actual history is for a company whose games you spent hours upon hours playing. I had no idea IBM played such a key role in helping to get King's Quest created.

No responses yet on the PSP for GP32x swap... sadly.

--Raz.

Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:25 am

The Brass

ZL0T
Joined: 24 May 2006
Posts: 247
Location: montreal, CA

lol i would trade my psp for your ds light when u get it.....

_________________OL' DIRTY BASTARD

Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:36 pm

msaeger

msaeger
Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Minneapolis, MN

I think the ratchet and clank series has quite a few funny moments but yeah it's not a total comedy game.

I was just playing panic for sega cd the other day that is pretty funny but I don't know if that would be considered modern.

Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:00 pm

raz0redSite Admin

raz0red
Joined: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 661
Location: Britannia

Rachet and Clank is a good example of comedy in an action game. As for Sega CD, I would say that is definitely retro, but very cool nonetheless. If you look back at the diversity of games on the Sega, Super NES, etc. the genres vary widely as compared to today's games. I think a lot of that will change with the Wii though. I just wish game companies were willing to take risks with their games without requiring you to use a different controller. But alas...

One game that I remember being funny is Day Of The Tentacle. The characters were just odd and it was just fun.

_________________

Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:49 am

raz0redSite Admin

raz0red
Joined: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 661
Location: Britannia

Day of the Tentacle is one of my all time favorites. Tim Shafer made quite a few of my favorite games of all time. Did anyone here check out Psychonauts? That game was pretty amazing. I just wish more people had played it...

We will definitely be covering the history of LucasArts in an upcoming show. They have quite a rich and interesting history of games. From the early ones like Ballblazer and Koronis Rift to the adventure games like DOTT and Sam and Max, to all of the Star Wars games.

--Raz.

Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:31 pm

msaeger

msaeger
Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Psychonauts is one of the few Xbox games I liked. (munches and oddworld stranger are the other two)

I am glad majesco picked it up I thought it was going to be vaporware.

I never got to play any of the lucasarts point and clicks but I hope to someday. They should release a compilation of some of them pc again would be fine but I would prefer a console port.

Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:24 pm

dragon57

Joined: 08 Jun 2006
Posts: 10

Another great show. I loved the old Sierra games. I had no idea they were being remade with better graphics. I am off to download now from the link in the show notes. Many thanks for the info.

By the way, I almost turned off the mp3 too soon when you guys first signed off. I was in the car and got distracted, then I heard you guys pick back up and talk about downloading the Kings Quest game, installing it and start to play it. That ending was great and I am glad you left it in.

One more thing, I am glad you guys are back. I don't think the lack of editing detracts from the show at all. All the interplay makes the show very enjoyable to listen to. I have been a listening to RGR for a long time, but I think your show now tops it. Keep up the great work. We appreciate all your efforts.

Psychonauts was fun. I forgot all about Sam and Max. On the next show don't forget to mention what is arguably the best Star Wars games ever, KOTOR one and two.

_________________

Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:06 pm

raz0redSite Admin

raz0red
Joined: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 661
Location: Britannia

dragon57 wrote:

By the way, I almost turned off the mp3 too soon when you guys first signed off. I was in the car and got distracted, then I heard you guys pick back up and talk about downloading the Kings Quest game, installing it and start to play it. That ending was great and I am glad you left it in.

Heh, yeah, I always wonder how many people actually end up hearing those semi-hidden endings to the show. I have been playing King's Quest I (the remake) this week and it has been a blast. It really makes me miss the adventure games, I sure hope some company decides to start producing some again.

dragon57 wrote:

I have been a listening to RGR for a long time, but I think your show now tops it. Keep up the great work. We appreciate all your efforts.

Thanks for the kind words. I too have listened to RGR forever, I have all of the shows on DVD, etc. When we started doing this show, our goal was not to try to cover the same topics as Shane, but sort of be complimentary. Thus, while he focuses mostly on reviewing current retro-related products, and performing interviews, our goal was to focus on the history of retro gaming. That is something I really enjoy learning about. We also wanted to focus on modern gaming consoles, computers, etc. because we enjoy playing them, regardless of who they are manufactured by. We also would like to get more interviews, that is something we are actively working on.

Thanks for listening!

--Raz.

Last edited by raz0red on Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:03 am; edited 1 time in total

Fri Jun 09, 2006 6:36 am

raz0redSite Admin

raz0red
Joined: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 661
Location: Britannia

R3V3N4N7 wrote:

On the next show don't forget to mention what is arguably the best Star Wars games ever, KOTOR one and two

Now there is a good topic for an upcoming show, the history of the different Star Wars games over the different computer and console generations. From way back when with Empire Strikes Back on the 2600 (by Parker Brothers), through Rebel Assault and the X-Wing games, the different "Super Star Wars" games on the SNES, up to KOTOR one and two.